FOIA News: AILA Nabs Some Immigration Judges' Names in FOIA Fight

AILA Nabs Some Immigration Judges' Names In FOIA Fight

Dave Simpson, Law360, Nov. 20, 2017

A D.C. federal judge ruled Friday that the names of 14 immigration judges who’ve been subject to numerous complaints should be unredacted by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, granting a partial win to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. 
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper said that the names od 20 of the 34 judges requested by AILA should remain undisclosed under a Freedom of Information Act exemption allowing redaction of information that would constitute "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

But in the case of the other 14 judges, Judge Cooper sided with AILA, finding that the public interest in disclosure of the withheld information outweighs the judge’s privacy interest.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Pentagon claims list of information exempt from FOIA is exempt from FOIA

Pentagon claims list of information exempt from FOIA is exempt from FOIA

JPat Brown, MuckRock, Nov. 17, 2017

Earlier this year, Emma Best filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the Department of Defense’s most recent declassification guide, with the goal of better understanding what the Pentagon believes can or can’t be released to the public. Just this week, the guide came in …

Read more here.

FOIA News: EPA working on backlogged FOIA requests

EPA clearing out backlog of Obama-era FOIA requests

By Paul Bedard, Wash. Exam'r, Nov 21, 2017

The Environmental Protection Agency is clearing out a huge backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests made during former President Obama’s administration, a demonstration it says of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s promise of transparency.

“We are committed to transparency,” said Pruitt in a statement. “EPA staff have quickly responded to the challenge to clear the backlog of FOIAs that built up from the previous administration, all while continuing to respond to the large volume of incoming requests.”

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 17, 2017

Am. Immigration Lawyers Ass'n v. Exec. Office for Immigration Review (D.D.C.) -- on remand from the D.C. Circuit, ruling that agency properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold the names of certain, but not all, immigration judges against whom complaints had been filed.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinion issued Nov. 16, 2017

Corley v. Sessions (D.D.C.) -- finding that Executive Office for United States Attorneys released all reasonably segregable records containing third-party information and properly withheld all but five documents pursuant to  attorney work-product privilege.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: POTUS tweets might undermine FBI's "Glomar" response

Trump's Tweets Could Undercut Feds' Silence in Public Records Case

In a FOIA case about the "Russia dossier," U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington is considering what President Trump may or may not know when he tweets.

By Cogan Schneier, Nat'l Law J.,  Nov. 17, 2017

The government’s so-called Glomar responses in a federal public records case in Washington could be undercut by the president’s tweeting habits.

The FBI is defending its refusal to either confirm or deny the existence of certain documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act suit against the bureau and other agencies. At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta struggled with whether the president’s tweets, which the government conceded are official statements, undercut that refusal.

The plaintiffs, Politico reporter Josh Gerstein and the James Madison Project, want the federal agencies to turn over a two-page synopsis they reportedly have on the claims in the “Russia dossier,” an unverified document that made claims about the president. Gerstein also seeks any determination by the agencies as to the validity of the dossier, and any records about what effort, if any, federal officials made to investigate the validity.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Litigants battle over national monument records

Justice Department won't release national monument documents

By Keith Riddler, Associated Press, Nov. 16, 2017 

Documents possibly outlining legal justifications for President Donald Trump to shrink national monuments don't have to be provided to an Idaho environmental law firm because they're protected communications, federal officials say.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from Advocates for the West seeking the information.

The environmental law firm filed a public records request for documents on the national monuments earlier this year, and the Justice Department released more than 60 pages in May.

The agency withheld 12 pages, however, contending they are protected by attorney-client privilege and intra-agency communication rules, making them exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.

Read more here.

FOIA News: A death in the FOIA family

Jeffrey Richelson, FOIA Legend and National Security Expert, Dies at 67

By Matt Novak, Gizmodo, Nov. 14, 2017

Jeffrey T. Richelson wrote over a dozen books about national security, nuclear weapons, and agencies like the CIA and KGB—books that were often the product of incredible new revelations obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Richelson, a legend to FOIA advocates and anyone else with an interest in national security, died this past weekend at the age of 67.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 10, 2017

King v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- denying pro se plaintiff's opposition and cross motion because plaintiff failed to show "excusable neglect" for filing them late; further denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration because plaintiff offered no "good reason" for reopening court's decision on government's summary judgment motion. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: NARA falsely claims it released Merrick Garland records in anticipation of his SCOTUS nomination

National Archives Commits a Supreme Error

By America Rising Squared, Nov. 13, 2017

Three years ago, the National Archives and Records Administration unveiled a majestic eagle as its new logo.  It has not taken long for the agency, like Icarus, to fly too close to the sun.

A few months after Donald Trump’s election dashed whatever hope Judge Merrick Garland still harbored to fill Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat, the National Archives and Records Administration submitted a report to the Attorney General that took credit for a seemingly remarkable feat:

Read more here.